The Mariners have placed first baseman Ty France on outright waivers, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. France remains on the club’s 40-man roster and can still play for the Mariners while on waivers until or unless he is claimed.
Should France clear waivers, the Mariners would then be able to outright or release him, though it’s worth noting that France has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and that Seattle could also simply opt to retain France on their roster afterwards, as the Blue Jays did with center fielder Kevin Kiermaier earlier this month. As was the case with Kiermaier, the move appears to be motivated by a desire on the part of Seattle to find a taker for France and the remainder of his $6.75MM salary this year, though ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggests that the move is also designed to open up full-time at-bats at the big league level for top first base prospect Tyler Locklear.
France, who celebrated his 30th birthday last week, is in the midst of a difficult season at the plate. The first baseman has slashed just .224/.313/.351 good for a wRC+ of just 97 and is striking out at a career-worst 24.5% clip. It’s the second consecutive down year for France, as he posted a somewhat lackluster 104 wRC+ in 158 games with Seattle last year as well. That down 2023 season led the club to listen to offers for the first baseman last summer, although no deal ultimately came together. Nearly a year later, the club is now evidently open to parting ways with France for nothing but salary relief with Locklear knocking at the door of the majors and France still struggling to produce at a level commensurate with the offensive expectations of his position.
It’s been a somewhat surprising drop off in production for France, who was a well-above average bat as recently as 2022. Acquired from the Padres as part of the seven-player deal that sent Austin Nola to San Diego back in 2020, France did nothing but hit during his first three seasons with the Mariners. From 2020 to 2022, France slashed an excellent .285/.355/.443 while striking out just 16.7% of the time and clubbing 42 homers in 335 games. It’s at least feasible to imagine a club that has a need at first base and believes they can unlock that old form in France would be willing to pay the remainder of his 2024 salary in order to take that chance, although it’s fair to wonder if interested clubs may prefer to see if France clears waivers before trying to acquire him at a lower price in the final week prior to the July 30 trade deadline.
In the meantime, rival clubs will have 48 hours from the time France was first waived to claim him, immediately adding him to their 40-man roster by doing so. Should he pass through waivers unclaimed, the Mariners will then need to decide whether to release France or retain him on their roster. Should France be released, he would then be eligible to be signed by any club for only a prorated portion of the major league minimum salary. If the club retains him on the roster, they would presumably continue to look for a suitor for France’s services in the run-up to the trade deadline. It’s even possible that Seattle could look to put France on waivers a second time after the deadline has passed, similar to how clubs like the Angels and Yankees handled pieces such as Lucas Giolito and Harrison Bader last summer after falling out of contention in August.
Seemingly poised to replace France in the Seattle lineup is Locklear, 23. Seattle’s second-rounder in the 2022 draft, Locklear has just 11 big league games under his belt, having slashed .200/.250/.433 in a brief cup of coffee while France was on the IL earlier this year. In 71 games between the Double- and Triple-A levels this year, Locklear has slashed an excellent .283/.389/.504 while striking out at a 24.5% clip that is, coincidentally, identical to France’s own strikeout rate this season.
Hey Yankees, he’s better then JD Davis…well, anyones better then JD Davis 🙁
Is JD Davis better than JD Davis?
France has fallen.
Viva La France!
Looks like these T shirt advertisers on here, will have to start selling many of them – for a discount lol.
At least he doesn’t have a Napoleon complex.
Nontender candidate so it makes some sense. Locklear should be able to replicate what he’s giving the M’s if not upgrade immediately
The M’s have to DFA Haniger, Garver, and Polanco next. This team’s lineup is horrendous
Haniger should have been DFAd a month ago. It’s beyond sad seeing this dude flail up at the plate.
Brah Polanco is hitting now. Garver will come around and still has a decent obp. Haniger might be cooked but I like him as a bench bat occasional starter vs lefty’s.
Haniger has a .364 OPS against lefties… You could dig up somebody who died in 1969 and get the same OPS.
Seattle’s Ray deal to Giants and for Polanco ended up resulting in nothing positive besides owner saving a bob or two.
Who’s Bob?
Polanco sucks, Garver sucks, Haniger sucks, Crawford sucks, Moore sucks, and the Mariners need to release them all. No team would pick any of these duds up. It’s kinda insulting to those of us who’d love getting paid what these guys are getting paid to strike out and look really bad doing it. Dipoto could have saved $41.16 million this season, and paid whomever league minimum to strike out.
Dylan Moore has 1.7 WAR in 236 at bats. War is a counting stat. Dylan Moore is actually a quite good baseball player and most certainly doesn’t suck. I stopped reading beyond that because you clearly don’t know wtf you’re talking about
Good players all having outlier years at the same time. Unlucky. DFA good players at your own peril. Even J-Rod is having a sub par season. Dfa him? Please.
Moneyballer, you need to take a look at France’s slash line last year, too. It’s been 1.5 down years with little power, no defensive value, and negative baserunning.
Haniger hasn’t been good since that really bad high ankle sprain in 2022. Then he had another brutal injury last year. His body just can’t perform like it needs to to be an MLB player.
It’s a Seattle thing. Out offensive (non)production is neither new nor an outlier. Neither our coaching staff nor our front office know jack about offense. We pitch great, but you can’t win too many games if you never touch home plate.
FINALLY. Wish him the best because he seems like a genuinely good person, but it’s been quite a while since he’s been worth a lineup spot on a major league team.
There’s little doubt this is Seattle trying to clear a little salary around 2.3m. But like everyone else, I’m curious if they’d immediately replace him with Locklear, or if something else is brewin’.
According to the official statement Locklear is in line to get everyday at bats. At this point, I’ll take his pop while he learns how to hit at the MLB level. That GIDP that France rolled into today was just so deflating. Every one of his at bats have been deflating.
Yeah, I’ll take his power with the Ks and hope for the best. But they could also use Moore there if/when they find another middle-infielder.
Worth noting,, Passan suggested Locklear is expected to rejoin the Mariners, but Divish reported that Vosler may be the choice.
Regardless, it sounds like France’s days as a Mariner are numbered.
He grounds into so many double plays that kill the momentum right when the mariners get a man on base
He’s slower than Edgar Martinez and I never thought I would say that
Slower than Edgar? might not be humanly possible.
but I’d watch that race
Oh it’s true. It’s DAMN true
Billy Butler and Benji Molina.
Benji Molina. Being the slowest Molina brother is quite the distinction
Ty France is the 20th slowest runner in baseball. 6% sprint speed
The difference is the people below him like Giancarlo Stanton just don’t try to run because of surgeries and stuff, France actually goes huffing and puffing and it looks like he’s skipping and jumping when he runs
Gave up first place. Giving up the season…. again. Sell the team Stanton! You are the real loser.
They just re-took 1st place.
Tied for first with Houston. As beat Houston but Houston has a percentage point over them to be on top.
The difference is 0.0005. That will iron itself out with an equal number of games played. It’s more important that Seattle has the tie-breaker right now.
But there’s still a lot of baseball left. Houston’s better poised for the division right now, so Seattle needs to get some help.
Everyone’s saying oh the mariners will definitely acquire more players at the deadline they are in first place
At the start of July I wondered what would happen if they did horribly and lost the lead
Now we are here if Houston keeps gaining ground then why buy
You can’t be serious. Why buy?
Because they’re in the race. They have the tie-breaker over Houston right now and they would be 2.5 games back for a wild card.
Seattle reached a 10-game lead in June when they were 14th in runs scored. The bar is low with this rotation. Just a couple of changes could make all the difference between the postseason and vacation.
They are tied w the Astros for first, though if the season were to end right now Seattle would have the tiebreaker (5-4 vs Houston).
If the season ended right now, there would be no playoffs. Just ask 1994.
Timmy go chase Lassie down a well.
Dang I love Ty. That sucks
Hey Tigers, hes better than Spencer Torkelson.
They optioned Spencer a while back and have rotated 1B duties ever since, with Canha getting much of the work.
But yeah, that might be match–especially if they were to claim him and Seattle was willing to eat a little of the 2.3m or so he’s still owed.
Canha has been solid. No point eating into his at-bats.
Not at first base. Look at the positional splits.
In fact, I was mistaken about a trade. Outright waivers are irrevocable.
So, let’s see if Detroit (or anyone else) is willing to eat a little salary on a lottery ticket.
It would be the major league minimum for the rest of the year.
I could see the Yankees taking a flyer on France.
Only if no team claims him, he’s DFA’d and outrighted, then refuses the assignment (which is very possible).
A claiming team would have to pay the remainder of his 2024 salary.
Dang hopefully him and JP can still hang out. There was def potential there but something happened. Maybe it was all the hbp or the conditioning. Haven’t seen a slower guy to first since olerud.
He will be claimed. This is an overraction by the mariners.
Speaking as someone who has watched 95% of his at bats this year; he simply doesn’t have the bat to ball that he used to. He can make contact like a mfer still but the contact sucks. He’s never been a conventional hitter and I think he struggles to make adjustments. He showed some signs in May that the whole driveline thing was working, but his at bats have been absolutely, unequivocally god awful over the past 2 months. I have been a huge fan of him and we share the same birthday. And I am so relieved by this news. We have a chance at the division and watching a guy pound a ball into the ground after seeing 2 pitches every single time he was up at the plate got extremely exhausting.
At San Diego State Tony Gwynn thought Ty France was the best pure hitter he had ever worked with.
Well, bad news on how that’s turned out.
That’s what they want. If someone claims him, they get off the remainder of his money AND a roster spot opens up for Locklear, who is a top 100 prospect on some lists and needs to see MLB action with nothing left to prove in the minors.
They waived him. Once he clears waivers all the team would have to pay is major league minimum.
Tell me you don’t watch Ms games without telling me you don’t watch Ms games.
Ty is a good dude and I will always appreciate him for the 2022 season, but he’s been scuffling at the plate for a year and a half and provides little value in the field and none on the bases. This is for the best in the long run.
I really wonder if they would outright him. I’m sure he’d accept the assignment, but I hope this isn’t a bluff.
True, he probably would accept the assignment so he doesn’t forfeit his remaining $2.5M or so.
He has over 5 years of service now, he gets paid regardless.
This is a bad look for the Mariners. He hasn’t had a good year but he hasn’t been terrible. It’s not like they have someone ready to step in and outperform him. This is supposed to be a team looking to make additions and instead they are trying to cut costs.
I think someone might pick him up. Pirates maybe? Only owed about 2.5 million at this point.
It’s a 1B batting below the league average. This isn’t a bad look at all and he likely goes unclaimed.
A smart team will grab him and tell him to approach his at bats like he did before the ms ruined him
Wow…it’s that easy?
Agree. Seattle is where hitters go to die. Bet someone picks him up and he hits 275 and becomes a valuable bench player.
Yeah it’s tough to hit in Seattle. Even if you want to take France out of the starting lineup he’s good enough for a bench spot. The Mariners are being cheap and that’s lame as can be.
“It’s not like they have someone ready to step in and outperform him.”
Locklear is a top 100 prospect on some lists and he’s getting the call. Whether he does or doesn’t outperform France remains to be seen, but many think he absolutely can if from no other standpoint than power.
France hit well from 2020-2022 in Seattle then fell off a cliff. He provides little slugging, no defensive value, and is a negative on the basepaths. His time was up. He’s not worth a bench spot.
Promote Locklear and make France a bench guy then. But this waiver nonsense is lame.
Why would you want a bench guy who doesn’t hit for power, has no defensive versatility, and is a negative on the basepaths? He would be useless as a pinch hitter, defensive replacement, and could never pinch run.
I’m forever grateful to Ty but there’s a reason his time is likely up.
His offense is barely below league average playing half his games in a park that is tough to hit in. And that’s in a down year. He’s been better in the past he could easily bounce back.
Milwaukee is a terrific place to hit. If they pick him up watch him start crushing the ball.
His home/road splits are even, and OPS+ is park adjusted.
Just hasn’t hit since injuring his arm in Oakland.
Well that would make sense except OPS+ which weighs park factors has him at a 94. So even with a difficult park to hit in, he’s 6% below average this season after being exactly league average in that department a year ago. That won’t fly for a 1B. He hits everything into the ground. That carries over from park to park. Miller isn’t going to suddenly allow him to hit the park in the air.
France and Locklear can’t be platooned. Why would you want a 1B only guy on a team with Locklear and Mitch Garver already?
Makes sense that Seattle would want someone to take France off their hands right now.
Luke Raley can play 1B as well,,,,,
M’s will miss his speed on the basepaths.
This should have been down two months ago. The writing has been on the wall with France since last season. I feel sorry for Angie Mentink, her favorite Mariner has been deposed.
His first couple of seasons he looked like the next Edgar Martinez. I was a big France fan, but unfortunately it’s time to move on. Best wishes to Ty, and hopefully he catches fire again.
Edgar would be an exaggeration…
But from 2021-2022 he looked like an above average contact first bat and an above average first baseman as a whole
I guess it makes sense but bummer.
Telegraphing their deadline plans for a suitable 1B option?
France’s effort at driveline ended with him being unable to make adjustments the league has already made against those philosophies.
I wouldn’t say “telegraphing.” I do still think a 1B trade is highly possible, maybe even probable, but they’re claiming Locklear will be promoted and receive regular reps. Since he is very much MLB-ready, they could just roll with him. It wouldn’t shock me. Locklear looks the part of a legit bat.
When locklear was called up I thought he definitely held his own to major league pitching
I was sad when they sent him down again because then we had a horrible France to replace him but now uno reverse card and we are here
If a kid goes to AAA in Seattle, its not a good look. The Rainiers are for broken toys, and they can rack up presentable statistics. However, those aren’t improvements offensively for the bigs. Locklear is no exception. He has a swing/miss problem and can’t make contact O-zone. This is a monumental limitation on whether he currently can contribute but even for the next season. I figure the Mariners realized it, so they figured he’d look better against PCL pitchers than AA pitchers.
I think the Mariners will take any hitter they can get, and then figure out where to play him.
One position we have available in AAA.
Now just need a 2B/3B, an OF or 2, and a DH.
Don’t forget a CF with Julio getting hurt/not playing well
robles?
Julio is day-to-day, and he’s been one of our best players. Even in a down-year, he’s been a league average hitter with good CF defense.
Angels pick him up, then deal Pillar.
Never cared much for Jerry Dipoto teams – LA or Seattle. Something’s always missing – such as the players understanding what they have to do to help the team win every game.
Don’t know if DiPoto’s a stat guy or a politician-bureaucrat or maybe both. He keeps doing these tear-downs / fast rebuilds (the churning he does reminds me of A.J. Preller) that catch fire for a bit – then fizzles out….mainly because he mismanaged the budget and backed himself into a corner as there’s no real help to be got from the farm system (reminds me of Mark Shapiro there). He also reminds me of Shapiro in that if something’s working, he takes more of the FO’s resources and tries to strengthen that area…..perhaps he thinks he’s a maven at that or he found the lost elixir….or whatever. Problem is that in professional team sports, opponents target a teams weak areas during competition…so if – let me make something up here – a baseball team spends too high a percentage of its available resources on say…..pitching…..opponents might gut out the pitchers, then exploit the understaffed defense and offense.
Anyway, there’s something wrong over there. The managers a manager, the coaches are coaches, etc. Not really bad, not really good. Perfect casting for a Hollywood movie about baseball. The top starting pitchers and top relievers are extremely good – obviously the best thing about the team. The rest of the staff…we’ll see.
Its like the manager – everyone shows up to work each game to do their job that day. Hopefully it’ll be a good day, but if not…..hey, their paycheck clears the bank.
So then I thought Ah-HA! Got it! – There’s NO LEADERSHIP on the field. But wait, the most important player on a ML team is the Catcher. And I think Cal Raleigh is one of the 6-7 best catchers in MLB (saw the other day that his Catchers ERA is 2nd only to Realmuto’s).
I don’t know Mariners fans. There’s just something sterile / pasteurized / uncreative / unimaginative watching the Mariners play baseball. I always find it boring, and figure even if they get into the expanded playoffs, they’ll be eliminated quickly.
Sunday nights are slow.
Being a Mariners fan who has witnessed the entire Dipoto era, I can say I agree with a lot of your points, particularly making too many transactions–especially ones that just shift the area of weakness without making the team better–and that something is always missing with his teams.
That said, I disagree highly about mismanaging the budget. I don’t think he’s done that even the slightest bit in Seattle and we all know Arte Moreno was the reason the budget was mismanaged in Anaheim.
The biggest issue, IMO, is that the team playing way above their xW-L in 2021 caused/led him to exit the rebuild a year too soon. Our farm wasn’t fully developed and we promoted all our good pitching prospects without having a bunch of legit offensive prospects to also plug in. The ones we had were more complementary than carrying prospects (maybe even Julio). Now those position players are getting closer to the bigs (H. Ford, C. Young, T. Locklear, C. Emerson, L. Montes) and should be plugged in the way Houston and Baltimore have been able to during their rebuilds except our pitching staff has been so good that they’ve kept us in the race each year since 2021. If we want to compete, that has caused us to have to trade for offensive help… from that pool of legitimate position player prospects that would have helped us build a larger core.
I think the missing ingredient is stability. Don’t get me wrong, as a fan I absolutely love Jerry DiPoto’s trading tendencies. It shows he is always trying to improve his team and not willing to settle for the status quo. The downside to that is that players don’t really have enough time to gel as a cohesive unit and that is something that stats won’t tell you. Guys need to be able to know what the rest of the guys on the field with them will do at any given time. And that takes time.
Preller traded away several top prospects, then ran high budgets for years.
Dipoto had a plan, then had the budget pulled out from under him just when it was time to add pieces to put the rebuild over the top.
That said, the team is definitely failing at supporting the offense. Too many hitters enjoy success elsewhere, struggle in Seattle, then recover when they leave.. Cal and Julio have also stalled out in their hitting development the last two years. (Cal probably from overuse).. And I think the team might lean too heavily on its best relievers.
But the drafting, and the development-especially pitching development- has been top notch.. And the M’s have won several more games than you’d expect from their underlying components in 3 of the last 4 years.
Jim Bowden said the following just this past Friday on the SXM MLB channel: With their pitching, the Mariners could run the table in October if they can score four runs. I don’t think they can score four runs.
We absolutely cannot score 4 runs regularly with this current offense. Unfortunately, when we do, the starter has one of his worst outings of the season or the pen implodes. There’s no consistency.
And the lows get lower for the mariners
Sell the team Stanton!!
Will that help them hit better. I get the frustration but not sure how helps this years hitting
It’s ridiculous that other teams cut the dead weight, but Yankees still have Torres and DJL.
With Stanton’s payrolls that adjust to inflation and the cost of living the mariners will never see a WS
It would be so fun to one up Steve cohen and have Jeff bezos or bill gates buy the team
Does Seattle have any relief help they’re willing to attach to this contract? Asking for a friend who needs relief help and is willing to pay in $$
Ty France has the Astros written all over him lol
Yeah, and then he’ll hit the cover off the ball just because he’s an Astro. SMH.
Ty France has been hot garbage for years! He’s the shortest 1st baseman in the MLB, he’s also the slowest! but this falls on Scott Servais who is probably the worst manager in the majors, he never puts on a hit n run when a batter gets on 1st base, he just sits in the dugout and coaches for home runs, problem is his team has no Power hitters, Julio Rodriguez is not a star, he’s a complimentary player who needs someone behind him who can hit with power, mariners are the worst hitting team in baseball this ownership is a joke because they love signing ham n eggers and act like they upgraded??? Mariners are a minor league team except their pitching staff who surprisingly haven’t asked to be traded yet!
This comment is unhinged. In no world is Servais even close to the worst manager in the MLB lol
Woah I think he hates the mariners the n word got into it
Red Sox need any sort of production from 1b, with Casas not coming back anytime soon.
Maybe a change in venue is what France needs to re-light the spark and Breslow can say he’s trying to upgrade the team that just had a brutal weekend in LA.
. see if the M’s gave any relievers they’d like to get rid of, too. before the Sox’s window to contend for a wild card closes (rolls eyes).
There’d better be a deal tomorrow. Irrevocable waivers (the article got it wrong). Chisholm and Scott for Clase and Ford? Arozarena and Paredes for Hancock, Polanco (and cash for his salary), and Windish? C’mon Jerry and Justin. Show us you really don’t want to waste the best starting staff in the majors by making every damn inning they pitch high-pressure.
Zippy,
I like both of those trade scenarios, though a little concerned about Arozarena and his K’s and low BA…. Really want Paredes who can play 1B and 3B. Still would like to see them also go after Ryan McMahon, just seams like the Rockies would let him go for the right price. He puts the ball in play… I also like lane Thomas, OF for the Nat’s. I think that he could help the M’s as well and the Nat’s have stated that they will listen to offers on him,. he is controlled through 2025.
Unfortunately, and I know this sounds weird, the Nats are only 4 games out of the WC, so the Thomas trade probably can’t happen unless they go on a losing streak, but I like the impulse. Since Jeff Cirillo, I’ve been wary about picking up a Rockies hitter, and they have had ample opportunities to trade him away before now and just won’t pull the trigger. Weird ownership group in Denver. In Arozarena, while he does K a lot, he also has clutch playoff experience and meshes well with Julio (assuming he’s day-to-day).
au revoir
Ty was part of one of Trader Jerry’s best trades. We got Ty, Luis Torrens, Andres Munoz and Taylor Trammell for Austin Nola, Austin Adams, and Dan Altavilla. It was a steal, actually.
Agree!
Not really sure why Ty was picked as the lone scapegoat… JP, Garver, Polanco, Moore and Haniger have all been equally bad if not worse. When can we expect those DFAs?
They have in-house alternatives to France.
Haniger may get DFA’d, and we’ll see with Polanco if they can add an infielder at the deadline.
JP, Garver and Moore will not be DFAd
@KcsMsFan,
Don’t put Dylan Moore in this sinking ship list. He more than did his job when JP was out, He was on fire at the plate for about 8 days, and fulfills a much needed role as a utility player playing SS, 3B, and OF. No way should he be cut based on his performance this year.
@KcsMsFan,
Don’t place Dylan Moore on this sinking ship of names. He filled in admirably at SS when JP was hurt, in fact he was on fire at the plate for about 9 days during that time. He fulfills the utility role and can play SS, 3B, OF and 1B. He does not deserve to be DFA’d.
You can’t put Dylan Moore on this sinking ship of names. He does a nice job filling the role of utility player for the Mariners. he filled in admirably at SS for JP when he was injured, In fact, he was on fire at the plate for about 9 days. He can play SS, 2B, 3B, 1B and OF. He does not deserve to be DFA’d based on how he has performed this year.
I wouldn’t put Dylan Moore on the sinking ship list of names.
Even if France remains a slightly below average hitter, the Pirates should be making a claim. Conner Joe can then split time with Palacios in RF while France is in the mix with Tellez at 1B and Cutch at DH. Suwinski needs more time in AAA to gain some confidence.
The only reason for Cherington not to make a move would be if he’s almost there on a deal for a quality OF.
To me this sounds like the Mariners are about to make a trade that will either fill 1B, or push one of the other options to that spot.. There’s a lot of OFs out there than can play 1B.
They probably want to shed some salary too to accommodate this new acquisition.
Addition by subtraction. Thanks for the run Ty the whole French mustache and baguette thing was on par with the Kings Court. Wish you all the best
This guy has been great for the M’s. Now he’s having a down year and they want to cut bait?
If he has an option then use it. If not ask him to take one so he can get right. Loyalty on both sides means something.
Any time the Safeco/T Mobile fans name a section after a player, it’s a Hex on the poor player. It happened with the King’s Court, Big Maple Corner (or whatever it was called), the Vive Le France section… it’s not QUITE as bad as the Mariners Commercial Curse… but it’s not at all good.
@Nick Deeds….players with more than five years of Major League service time can reject an assignment to the Minor Leagues and won’t forfeit owed salary. France now has 5 years.
How does Deeds still have a job when he makes mistakes like this? There should be no commas within “…striking out at a 24.5% clip that is, coincidentally, identical to France’s own strikeout rate this season.” Coincidentally needs to be in the flow of the sentence. It isn’t “however.”
I feel like the Mariners are one RBI guy away from being the scariest team in baseball. They have plenty of players who can get on base, they just an RBI guy to bring them home.